Thematic Sentiment Analysis, Q4 2021 - Thematic Research

This report contains analysis of polls designed to help us understand the current sentiment of the business community towards emerging technologies and ESG (environmental, social, and governance).

Key Highlights

• Artificial intelligence (AI) closed 2021 as the technology perceived to be the most disruptive for businesses. AI was not the technology where the increase in positive sentiment was the highest, but it was the technology that most thought would disrupt their industries.
• After dipping in Q3 2021, perceptions of augmented reality (AR) recovered in the final three months of 2021. 55% of respondents said the technology would cause either significant or slight disruption to their industries, and AR led in positive sentiment change.
• Despite the hype surrounding non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and the emergence of numerous crypto wallets, blockchain, a key technology supporting those developments, did not enjoy the same boost in positive sentiment as AR.

Scope

• Our sentiment polls ran between October and December 2021 on the publisher's Verdict network of B2B websites, which have 57 million unique visitors a year. In total, 2,225 respondents participated in the survey.
• The survey focused on seven emerging technologies: 5G, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, blockchain, cloud computing, cybersecurity, and the Internet of Things.
• It also looked at attitudes towards ESG, the most important theme impacting businesses over the next decade.

Reasons to Buy

• This survey gives a unique insight into the views of the business community on emerging technology and ESG.
• The responses reveal which technologies executives view as most disruptive, which they believe to be over-hyped, and how their opinion of them has changed over time.
• They also provide insight into attitudes towards ESG, including whether companies have changed their behavior to meet ESG targets.